


Connection

by allandnothing



Series: The usual bunch of morons but with phds [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Professors, M/M, Thor is a fanboy but tries not to show it, anyway, background ironstrange, i just can't control my mouth, just a bit of comedy really, that's what she said, the only reason why im tagging these T is cause I swear like a sailor when I write (and not), tons of hypotaxis ayyy, y'all have to drag these ships out of my cold dead hands
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-09
Updated: 2019-01-09
Packaged: 2019-10-07 08:38:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17362670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allandnothing/pseuds/allandnothing
Summary: He had to look up, then up again- boy, was the guy tall- before being met by soft blue eyes. Their owner was sporting a bit of light stubble and equally blonde short hair, way messier than one would think is appropriate for a scientist, and was wearing a suit that was elegant but at the same time casual, with dark colours but the first two shirt buttons undone.Bruce thanked whatever guardian angel was looking after him that made him avoid getting drunk because he was sure that had he been even the slightest tipsy he would’ve made some embarrassing high pitched sound when the guy smiled at him. However, he had drunk enough to be able to somehow see an entire galaxy behind his sapphire eyes.What. The fuck.In which we see Thor and Bruce's first meeting. Neither of them gives his best performance.





	Connection

**Author's Note:**

> Just a tiny itsy bitsy oneshot I wrote to explain how Thor and Bruce met in my professors AU, just something nice and cute to lift your mood if you’re feeling down like me :’)
> 
> I tried coming up with some compelling scientific dialogue, I really did, but listen, I’m a language student, and a dumb one at that, I read one (1) Wikipedia article about astronomy and understood absolutely nothing- all the words made sense only separately- so I just stuck to the Ragnarok dialogue, forgive me for the repetition.
> 
> (Maybe warn me if I said some straight up bs in my confusion please and thank you,,)
> 
> Title from OneRepublic because I’m a sucker for cheerful songs that low-key sound like a call for help
> 
> Enjoy, nerds

As far as science conventions went, especially if we’re talking about the university-organised ones, this one wasn’t all that bad, thought Bruce as he watched the champagne swirl around in his glass like it was the most fascinating sight in existence. And really, if it came from him, the most introverted scientist Director Fury could’ve chosen to represent their faculty at this posh party, then it really said a lot. He had witnessed worst ones, really.

Tony had decided to come along to keep him company- saw the panicked look in Bruce’s eyes when Fury told him the news and offered to go as a plus one- and they'd had lots of fun, they really had, but once they had reached the after-seminar buffet he had disappeared in the general direction of the champagne table and hadn’t yet come back, leaving Bruce- poor, introverted, socially-anxious, high on Xanax Bruce- alone, surrounded by hordes of chattery scientists.

They weren’t pestering him, per se, or at least he didn’t think they thought they were; they were just excited about meeting other scientists- they’re kind of like dogs, scientists, thought Bruce with a small and probably demented-looking grin- and Bruce, well, seven PhDs and scientific achievements and whatnot aside, he was _terrible_ at entertaining people, especially if they already had pre-formed expectations about him.

There was a woman beside him, trying against hope to bring him back into the conversation- he was pretty sure her name was Ross? They had met her back at the seminar and Tony had made a weird face when she'd introduced herself- and he, too, was trying to seem interested in it, but it was working poorly. He was just too introverted for this whole event, he just wished he was back home alone, possibly with a cup of tea and some Law and Order re-run on tv.

“I found your last article particularly interesting,” said Ross, scanning Bruce up and down with an intensity that made him squirm uncomfortably. _Where was Tony?_ “I didn’t think it was possible to observe an Einstein-Rosen Bridge so up close.”

“It usually isn’t,” replied Bruce distractedly, scanning the horizon for his friend, “Observing one with normal equipment would’ve torn it to pieces, it would’ve been a significant waste of money, so we had to get a type of sonde that-“

“That could withstand the geodetic strain from the singularity, yes,” said a new, deeper voice. Momentarily forgetting about his friend, Bruce turned around towards the owner of that voice and was taken aback by what he saw.

He had to look up, then up again- boy, was the guy tall- before being met by soft blue eyes. Their owner was sporting a bit of light stubble and equally blonde short hair, way messier than one would think is appropriate for a scientist, and was wearing a suit that was elegant but at the same time casual, with dark colours but the first two shirt buttons undone.

Bruce thanked whatever guardian angel was looking after him that made him avoid getting drunk because he was sure that had he been even the slightest tipsy he would’ve made some embarrassing high pitched sound when the guy smiled at him. However, he had drunk enough to be able to somehow see an entire galaxy behind his sapphire eyes.

What. The fuck.

“Exactly,” he replied, breathless, doing very little to hide his fascination with the man, “NASA didn’t have anything of the kind so we had to build everything from scratch but it thankfully still worked.”

The man smiled knowingly, evidently deeply interested in what Bruce was saying, “I’m sure your degree in radiophysics helped with that.”

Bruce nodded, and for the first time that night he felt embarrassed that someone already knew who he was and what he studied, despite having been recognized by other people all evening long. Pretty guys just had that effect on him.

“Sorry, I don’t think I know you,” he confessed, sheepishly, and he was vaguely aware of Dr Ross and the other scientists that had been hovering around him moving further away from them, chattering about something none of Bruce’s senses was particularly interested in.

The guy didn’t seem bothered in the least by that, he just smiled again as he offered Bruce his hand.

“No reason for you to know it, I’m not a renowned scientist like you,” Bruce blushed at the compliment and shook his hand. He had just a moment to marvel at the feel of it before an electrical surge ran through him. The man didn’t seem to have noticed it, “Thor Odinson. I study astronomy and astrophysics. Not for a scientific career, though. I’m not a big fan of the idea.”

Bruce was so amazed by the guy’s name- _Thor! His name is Thor! Tony is going to lose his mind when I tell him_ \- that he completely glossed over the rest of the sentence. Thor, apparently, did not.

“Not that there’s anything wrong with it!” he scrambled to explain, holding his hands up like he was afraid Bruce was going to bite them off. He looked like a sturdy golden retriever standing on his rear legs to impress his owner and, wow, that suit was a bit too tight on the arms wasn’t it, “I love scientists! I love y- _I mean_ , I admire your work, I’m just- more of a people person, you know? I prefer a humanistic approach to the discipline- not that any of you aren’t capable of that! I mean-“

Bruce took pity on him- how could someone so big look so cute? Dude was gigantic- and grabbed his wrists to calm him. It was probably a bit too forward for two men who had just met ( _he’s probably straight and wondering why the weird scientist is touching him_ , said an annoyingly confident voice in his head that he pointedly ignored), but he did close his mouth with an audible click so he took it as a win.

“Don’t break your back over it,” he said jokingly, letting go of his arms- _did he just…_ sway _forward? -_ “I’m not a big fan of it, either. Especially now that I’m... at the end of my life,” he made a comical motion to his greying hair, and thankfully Thor picked up on the joke and snickered at it, “I only keep up with the science career when necessary, but I actually prefer teaching.”

Thor’s eyes became even brighter, if possible.

“You teach?” he asked enthusiastically, “I do too, at NYU.”

A jolt of excitement ran through Bruce’s stomach.

“Me too,” he replied with a smile. He didn’t know why this information flashed in his mind like it was life-changingly important but it definitely did, “My faculty is located elsewhere from the astronomy department, though, so that’s why we never saw each other."

 _And I don’t know about you, but I definitely would have remembered seeing you_ , thought Bruce, and he had to physically stop himself from checking Thor out and biting his lip for good measure. Champagne really did bring out the gay in him, didn’t it?

“Well, I’ll be sure to come around the physics department more often, then,” said Thor with a small smile and, oh god, did his voice really just lower? Was it actually directed at Bruce?

He turned around, just to be sure- can’t blame a guy for being a little insecure and self-conscious when he was talking to every Disney prince combined in a single literal beefcake with a baritone British accent- and he was surprised to discover that no, there was no one else Thor could have been meaning to talk to, and yes, it was indeed directed at Bruce.

He turned around again to find that Thor hadn’t taken his eyes- a bit darker now- off of him, but was actually _checking him out._

Was he dreaming?

“Uhm,” Bruce had actually no idea what to do with himself and the fact that the literal personification of a Norse god was actively flirting with him, but it turned out that he didn’t need to worry about it, for his guardian angel took care of that, too. In the form of a drunk Tony crashing into him with the same grace of a Bullet Bill.

“Bruce!” he half-screamed, clutching at his friend as though he couldn’t keep himself upright without his help (he probably couldn’t, even his hair smelled of alcohol), “Bruce you gotta help me I made a terrible mistake!”

Bruce tried to free himself from the embrace but it was to no avail. He looked helplessly towards Thor, but the guy just giggled at the sight. He didn’t think someone with such a deep voice could make such a high-pitched sound.

“I think I’ll leave you to it,” he snickered silently, and Bruce felt his heart break- which was anatomically improbable, but still a perfect description of what he was feeling, having the hope of getting to know such an interesting and beautiful person shattered before his eyes. He didn’t need to feel miserable for long, though, because instead of walking away definitely, Thor looked inside his jacket for a second before pulling out a small piece of paper and offering it to Bruce.

It was a business card. It had his number on it.

He was going to make a shrine for his guardian angel.

“Call me, if you want to talk about other... science stuff,” he said jokingly, but he could see he was nervous by his shaky tone, as Bruce picked the card and looked at it with intensity, just to make sure it was real, “Or about anything, really.”

He looked up at Thor and was surprised to see that his previous confidence was now replaced by open vulnerability and nervousness. As if he was actually scared that Bruce was going to turn his number down.

 _Oh_.

“Will do,” he promised with a sheepish smile, and god help him the other man actually _blushed_ at it.

After a little smile of his own, Thor walked off towards another room of the banquet- slowly, though, as if he knew Bruce was looking at him. He probably did, Bruce wasn’t a subtle person.

He pocketed the card with reverence- not before making sure that it was real another couple of times- and then turned towards Tony, who had decided to stare at his own hands while Bruce was otherwise occupied.

“What is it?” he asked, ready to deal with some insanity, as it was usual with a drunk Tony. The man only held up his left hand towards Bruce as it had personally offended him. His wedding ring gleamed under the dim light.

“I’m married!” he cried, evidently heartbroken. It was clear he had been crying- fresh tears were streaming down his cheeks- and it was a wonder how nobody had yet noticed the spectacle that he was, “Bruce, I’m married! How did you let this happen, how could you?”

He tried grabbing Bruce by his suit collar but the scientist was quicker than him- not like it took a lot, anyway.

“What am I gonna tell Steph!” he sobbed, head in his hands, “I don’t want to be married to anyone who isn’t him! Cut my hand, Bruce, just do it!”

Bruce sighed loudly. God, what was his life.

“Tony, for the love of Christ,” he grabbed his friend’s hands and took them away from his face, trying to make eye contact with him, but the tears were so much- and his eyes so glassy of alcohol- that it was impossible, “You’re married with Stephen. You guys are husbands. There is no need to cry. We have been over this, Tony, please.”

His friend looked like he had just been handed the key to happiness, which he probably was, but it didn’t last long.

“Wait,” he said, evidently confused, “It’s legal?”

Bruce sighed, grabbing Tony by his arm and starting to lead him towards the exit.

Yeah, they weren’t that bad, these science conventions.

**Author's Note:**

> Do I look like someone who has a vague understanding of what the NYU is and how it works? Ya boy just googled "New York universities" and choose the first one that appeared, take it for what it is
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this! It feels kinda weird to write something basically plotless (again) but it was fun writing it so I hope it was the same for you!
> 
> I also noticed that a) I’m projecting a lot of my personality on Bruce. Nobody has complained about him being ooc yet so imma assume it was a good unconscious idea, and b) this is the third fic in this series and I made the mistake of naming all of them with something that begins with C. This will either be a curious coincidence or a nightmare to title future works. We’ll see.
> 
> Lemme know if you liked it and if you want me to add some more to this series! (I'm planning to do that either way but it’s nice to have people backing me up)


End file.
